Topix.net's Terms of Service

Terms of Service

This agreement (the "Agreement") is entered into by and between you ("you") and Topix LLC, d/b/a Topix.net, (hereinafter referred to as "Topix.net") regarding your use of the Topix.net service (the "Service"). By using the Service, you are entering into this Agreement with Topix.net and indicating that you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions. If you do not agree with these terms and conditions as originally stated, please do not use the Service.

1. Priority. This Agreement, in combination with Topix.net's Privacy Policy (available at http://www.topix.net/topix/privacy), sets forth the terms and conditions under which Topix.net makes the Service available to you. In the event of an inconsistency between this Agreement and Topix.net's Privacy Policy, this Agreement shall control.

2. Rights Associated with the Service. The Service is designed to help you find news information that resides on sites not owned or controlled by Topix.net. In particular, the Service provides brief descriptions of news stories to help you identify the stories of interest to you. When you select a story that appears to be interesting, you will be linked to the news site on which that story appears. Topix.net owns and retains all intellectual property rights to the Service; but Topix.net does not claim ownership rights to the full news stories, which are instead held by the sites to which the Service links.

3. The stories displayed as results, or linked to, by the Service are developed by people over whom Topix.net exercises no control. The results that appear from Topix.net's indices are indexed by Topix.net's automated machinery and computers, and Topix.net cannot and does not screen the sites before including them in the indices from which such automated search results are gathered. As a result, the Service may display results and links to sites that some people find objectionable, inappropriate, or offensive. We cannot guarantee that a Topix.net page will not include unintended or objectionable content and assume no responsibility for the content of any site included in any search results or otherwise linked to by the Service.

4. Use of the Service. You may only display the content of the Service for your own personal use (i.e., non-commercial use) and may not otherwise copy, reproduce, alter, modify, create derivative works, or publicly display any content. For example, you may not do any of the following: use the Service to sell a product or service; use the Service to increase traffic to your Web site for commercial reasons, such as advertising sales; take the results from the Service and reformat and display them, or mirror any portion of the results on your Web site; or use the Service as part of a "meta-search" offering. You also agree that you will not use any robot, spider, other automated device, or manual process to monitor or copy any content from the Service. If you are uncertain whether your intended use of the Service is permissible, please contact us. In addition, Topix.net shall have the right in its sole discretion to suspend or terminate the Service or your access to it.

5. Disclaimer of Warranties. Topix.net disclaims any and all responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, completeness, legality, reliability, or operability or availability of information or material displayed by using the Service. Topix.net disclaims any responsibility for the deletion, failure to store, misdelivery, or untimely delivery of any information or material. Topix.net disclaims any responsibility for any harm resulting from downloading or accessing any information or material on the Internet through the Service.

   THE TOPIX.NET SERVICE, AND ALL MATERIALS, INFORMATION, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES INCLUDED IN THE SERVICE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS," WITH NO WARRANTIES WHATSOEVER. TOPIX.NET AND ITS LICENSORS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW ALL EXPRESS, IMPLIED, AND STATUTORY WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF PROPRIETARY RIGHTS. TOPIX.NET AND ITS LICENSORS DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTIES REGARDING THE SECURITY, RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS, AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SERVICE. TOPIX.NET AND ITS LICENSORS DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTIES FOR ANY INFORMATION OR ADVICE OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICE. TOPIX.NET AND ITS LICENSORS DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTIES FOR SERVICES OR GOODS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED ON THE SERVICE OR RECEIVED THROUGH ANY LINKS PROVIDED BY THE SERVICE, AS WELL AS FOR ANY INFORMATION OR ADVICE RECEIVED THROUGH ANY LINKS PROVIDED IN THE SERVICE.

   YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT YOU DOWNLOAD OR OTHERWISE OBTAIN MATERIAL OR DATA THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND THAT YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF SUCH MATERIAL OR DATA. SOME STATES OR OTHER JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER RIGHTS THAT VARY FROM STATE TO STATE AND JURISDICTION TO JURISDICTION.

6. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL TOPIX.NET OR ITS LICENSORS BE LIABLE TO ANY USER ON ACCOUNT OF THAT USER'S USE OR MISUSE OF OR RELIANCE ON THE SERVICE ARISING FROM ANY CLAIM RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THE SUBJECT MATTER HEREOF. SUCH LIMITATION OF LIABILITY SHALL APPLY TO PREVENT RECOVERY OF DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, AND PUNITIVE DAMAGES WHETHER SUCH CLAIM IS BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), OR OTHERWISE, (EVEN IF TOPIX.NET OR ITS LICENSORS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES). SUCH LIMITATION OF LIABILITY SHALL APPLY WHETHER THE DAMAGES ARISE FROM USE OR MISUSE OF AND RELIANCE ON THE SERVICE, FROM INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE, OR FROM THE INTERRUPTION, SUSPENSION, OR TERMINATION OF THE SERVICE (INCLUDING SUCH DAMAGES INCURRED BY THIRD PARTIES). THIS LIMITATION SHALL ALSO APPLY WITH RESPECT TO DAMAGES INCURRED BY REASON OF OTHER SERVICES OR GOODS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED ON THE SERVICE OR RECEIVED THROUGH ANY LINKS PROVIDED IN THE SERVICE, AS WELL AS BY REASON OF ANY INFORMATION OR ADVICE RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED ON THE SERVICE OR RECEIVED THROUGH ANY LINKS PROVIDED IN THE SERVICE. THIS LIMITATION SHALL ALSO APPLY, WITHOUT LIMITATION, TO THE COSTS OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES, LOST PROFITS, OR LOST DATA. SUCH LIMITATION SHALL FURTHER APPLY WITH RESPECT TO THE PERFORMANCE OR NON-PERFORMANCE OF THE SERVICES OR ANY INFORMATION OR MERCHANDISE THAT APPEARS ON, OR IS LINKED OR RELATED IN ANY WAY TO, THE SERVICE. SUCH LIMITATION SHALL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY AND TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

   SOME STATES OR OTHER JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

   Without limiting the foregoing, under no circumstances shall Topix.net or its licensors be held liable for any delay or failure in performance resulting directly or indirectly from acts of nature, forces, or causes beyond its reasonable control, including, without limitation, Internet failures, computer equipment failures, telecommunication equipment failures, other equipment failures, electrical power failures, strikes, labor disputes, riots, insurrections, civil disturbances, shortages of labor or materials, fires, floods, storms, explosions, acts of God, war, governmental actions, orders of domestic or foreign courts or tribunals, non-performance of third parties, or loss of or fluctuations in heat, light, or air conditioning.

7. Requests for Removal of Links or Cached Materials. Topix.net occasionally receives requests from people to remove links from its indices. Although Topix.net reserves the right to address such requests individually, the general approach that Topix.net takes reflects the following principles:

   Topix.net's indices consist of information that has been identified, indexed and compiled through an automated process with no advance review by human beings. Given the enormous volume of web site information added, deleted, and changed on a frequent basis, Topix.net cannot and does not screen anything made available through its indices. For each web site reflected in Topix.net's indices, if either (i) a site owner restricts access to his or her web site or (ii) a site is taken down from the web, then, upon receipt of a request by the site owner or a third party in the second instance, Topix.net would consider on a case-by-case basis requests to remove the link to that site from its indices. However, if the operator of the site does not take steps to prevent it, the automatic facilities used to create the indices are likely to find that site and index it again in a relatively short amount of time.

8. Hold Harmless and Indemnity. You agree to hold harmless and indemnify Topix.net, and its employees, agents and representatives, from and against any third party claim arising from or in any way related to your use of the Service, including any liability or expense arising from all claims, losses, damages (actual and consequential), suits, judgments, litigation costs and attorneys' fees, of every kind and nature. In such a case, Topix.net will provide you with written notice of such claim, suit or action.

9. Release and Waiver. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you hereby release, and waive all claims against Topix.net and its employees and agents from any and all liability for claims, damages (actual and consequential), costs and expenses (including litigation costs and attorneys' fees) of every kind and nature, arising out of or in any way connected with use of the Service. If you are a California resident, you waive your rights under California Civil Code § 1542, which states, "A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor." Residents of other states and nations similarly waive their rights under applicable and/or analogous laws, statutes, or regulations.

10. Modifications of Terms. Topix.net shall have the right to modify the terms of this Agreement at any time, which modification shall be effective immediately upon posting. Accordingly, we suggest that you check this page periodically. To make your review more convenient, we will post a version number or date at the bottom of this page.

11. Intellectual Property Policy. Topix LLC respects the intellectual property rights of others and endeavors to comply with all applicable US laws regarding intellectual property. Accordingly, it is our policy to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Further, Topix's policy is to provide attribution for the content available on the Service by linking to the source of the content. For directions and more information, please click here. For information regarding our trademark compliance procedure, please click here.

12. RSS Content/Iframe. Topix.net offers RSS format feeds for each of our topical news pages, other than the front page. Access is via the XML button located on the upper right hand corner on each such page. Attribution (included in each feed) is required as set forth below.

    Topix.net also offers syndication of its healdlines for each of our topical news pages, other than the front page. Access is via the "Add Headlines" link located on each page.

    The RSS feeds and the Iframe syndication are provided free of charge for use by individuals and non-profit organizations for personal, non-commercial uses. In both cases, we require that you provide attribution to Topix.net. In connection with the RSS feed, if you provide this attribution in text, please use: "News on [name of page] from Topix.net" and a hyperlink to the Topix.net source page. If you would prefer to provide this attribution with a graphic, please contact us so that we may provide you with the Topix.net logo. Topix.net attribution is built into the Iframe graphcis, which attribution may not be edited, altered, or removed. We reserve all rights in and to the Topix.net name and logo, and your right to use the Topix.net name or logo is limited to providing attribution in connection with these RSS feeds and Iframe. We are also including the provider of each individual news story in the feed alongside each headline, along with a hyperlink to that site. Please do not alter this for display. We want our news providers to be not only attributed for their work but also receive the traffic from those interested in reading a particular story. Topix.net also reserves the right to require you to cease utilizing either the RSS feed and/or the Iframe at any time for any reason.

13. Miscellaneous. If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be deemed superseded by a valid enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision and the remaining provisions shall be enforced. Topix.net's failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive Topix.net's right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches. The failure of Topix.net to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these terms and conditions shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. The section headings and subheadings contained in this Agreement are included for convenience only, and shall not limit or otherwise affect the terms of this Agreement. This agreement shall be interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of California as if made in California by two residents of that state. Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this Agreement shall be settled by binding arbitration in accordance with the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association. Any such controversy or claim shall be arbitrated on an individual basis, and shall not be consolidated in any arbitration with any claim or controversy of any other party. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and unappealable. The arbitration shall be conducted in Palo Alto, California and judgment on the arbitration award may be entered into any court having jurisdiction thereof. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, Topix.net may at any time seek injunctions or other forms of equitable relief from any court of competent jurisdiction. Notwithstanding any provision hereof, for all purposes of this Agreement each party shall be and act as an independent contractor and not as partner, joint venturer, agent, employee or employer of the other and shall not bind nor attempt to bind the other to any contract. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between Topix.net and you with respect to the subject matter hereof.